7 Ways to Improve a Bad Day

As we close out the month of July, and look forward to fresh new opportunities in August, it seemed fitting to point out a post we came across on some little tricks you can use to make your day (or month?)… better!

Recently, Inc.com published a memorable list of ways to improve your day – and listen, we all need to improve our morning from time to time, right? In a sales-oriented column written June 18th by Geoffrey James entitled Positive Thinking: 7 Easy Ways to Improve a Bad Day the author notes some tips and tricks worth sharing to, as he puts it, “change your momentum” on an otherwise crappy day.

To wit:

1. Remember that the past does not equal the future. As James points out, there’s no such thing as “a run of bad luck.” We believe there is only because of the brain’s tendency to create patterns out of random events, and then remembering events that fit the pattern.

2. Refuse to make self-fulfilling prophesies. If you believe things will get worse, rest assured, they will.

3. Get a sense of proportion. Unless some life-changing event happened to you today, chances are in two weeks you’ll have largely forgotten what brought you down today.

4. Change your threshold for “good” and “bad.” “Consider a good day any day you’re above ground,” says James, “and a bad day is when somebody steals your car and drives it in the ocean.” Those types of definitions make the distinction between good and bad pretty clear, and make it easy to be happy, hard to be sad.

6. Focus on what’s going well. For whatever’s going wrong, you probably have a dozen things that are going well… things you can be grateful for. If you need to, make a list. Post it where it’s visible.

7. Expect something wondrous. Just as a doom and gloom attitude will let you see your world in all the wrong ways, sometimes a sense of wonder as you face your day (or future) can make you alive and aware of the wonderful things going on right now, and everywhere around you. Even if you’re a cynic, at least… be open to it.